by Carol Leish, MA
“‘Kindness Week’ was January 23-January 27, 2023, at Ventura Unified School District,” according to Natalie Uribe, who is the Home Care Specialist at Assisted Home Health and Hospice. “My colleagues and I approached schools in our service area, including Will Rogers Elementary School in Ventura. Their Principal, Vanessa Perez, said that the school included our Valentines coloring sheets in their activities for Kindness Week, which was a week-long program dedicated to creating a culture of kindness and compassion in communities worldwide.”
Principal Perez said, “We are working on the pillars of character. February’s character trait is ‘Caring.’ The color is ‘red’ and for students to think of a ‘heart.’ It’s important to show that you care, to express gratitude, to forgive others, and to help people in need, which all fit into being caring individuals.”
Principal Perez also emphasized that, “We become kind and caring by doing kind and caring things each day, not just during one week. A smile is an easy way of showing someone that you care. It’s easy to acknowledge someone with a smile on the school campus, in the grocery store and in the community.”
“During Kindness Week,” according to Uribe, “we provided local elementary schools in our service area: Camarillo, Oxnard, Ventura, Santa Paula and Ojai, with Valentine’s coloring sheets asking them to color them for seniors who are living in various senior living communities. As we know, some of the residents have few families and friends, and receiving a colored in card with a handwritten note to show that they are thought of and loved from school children puts a smile on their faces.”
Various activities are provided by Assisted Home Health and Hospice. Uribe said, “Activities range from cooking classes to flower bouquet making, pet therapy, mini golf putting, toss n talk beach ball games, ice cream socials, arts and crafts, flower potting, etc.”
According to Uribe, “As our world becomes increasingly complex, we believe it’s more important than ever to have given our students the opportunity to have participated in the uplifting week of kindness by having made Valentine cards for seniors. It was a way of sharing a conversation with children about kindness and thinking of others, such as our seniors.”
